Peter's Redemption
by TeslaJet
Summary: Movieverse. For nearly summoning the White Witch Peter has fallen from Aslan's grace. Stripped of his crown and forbidden from entering Narnia again Peter bitterly regrets his actions. But all is not lost. When Aslan offers him another chance Peter jumps at it. It will test him as he has never been tested before.
1. Chapter 1

** Disclaimer: I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia books, which were written by C.S. Lewis, nor do I own the movies.**

Chapter 1

Peter Pevensie sat morosely in his seat, staring out the window of the train. It was a gray, overcast day in England with a light showering of rain. The train he was on was passing through a particularly boring field, with long grass gently waving in the wind that accompanied the rain. Beside him sat a rather elderly man whose head was tipped back. His mouth gaped open, a line of drool trailing out of it, and a soft snore emanated from him. None of these did anything to improve Peter's sour mood.

Peter's eyes were glazed over, his gaze unmoving. His body moved along with the jolting, bumping movements of the train and his chest rose and fell as he breathed, but other than that there was no movement from him. If one looked at him one would almost feel tempted to check whether or not the young man was still alive. But if one looked closer, one would see the distant but very acute pain in his eyes and the sadness in his expression.

It had been a quarter of a year since his second foray into Narnia. Three months since he had returned to his beloved kingdom. Three months since he had met the rightful king Caspian. Three months since he had let his arrogance and pride consume him. Three months since he had led the disastrous assault on the usurper's castle and nearly fought Caspian when accused of his failure. Three months since he had nearly completed the ritual to summon the White Witch back to the land of the living. Three months since he had dueled Miraz and battled his army. Three months since Narnia had been liberated and all of its peoples respected.

Three months since he had forgotten the grace of Aslan. Three months since the High King of high kings had told him he would never return to Narnia again.

And it was nearly three months since he had had his conversation with Edmund.

_Peter stood by the window in the station, staring out into the town beyond it. This was the final station where the Pevensies would be together. From here Peter would take a separate train from his siblings. It would be months before Peter would see his siblings again._

_ "Peter!" a voice said loudly behind him. Peter jerked and turned his head to see Edmund standing behind him, an aggrieved expression on his face._

_ "That's the fourth time I've said your name" his younger brother said exasperatedly. "What's wrong with you?"_

_ "Nothing" Peter said in a monotone. Edmund snorted._

_ "Right, I can see that" Edmund stepped forward. "Pete, what's wrong with you?"he repeated. "We've been trying to talk with you the whole trip. I think Lucy's a little hurt at how you've been acting"_

_ Still no response. Edmund started to feel a little worried. That last sentence should have got to him, yet he continued to look forward, staring out the window._

_ "Is this about Narnia?" the younger Pevensie brother asked. Peter gave a jerky nod. Edmund shuffled his feet, preparing some stern words for his older brother._

_ "Peter, you've got to snap out of it. Look, I know you're sad you won't see Narnia again, but you can't go on like this"_

_ No response. Edmund started to feel a little frustrated._

_ "Come on Peter. Susan won't see Narnia either, but you don't see her sulking this much"_

_ "Susan's still a queen" Peter replied softly._

_ "What?" Edmund said, confused. Professor Kirke had said to them "Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia" But what Peter was saying made it sound like he no longer was._

_ "You heard the professor. Just because we are out of Narnia doesn't mean that we aren't still its royalty"_

_ "I think when Aslan renounces you it's an exception" Peter replied._

_ Edmund's thoughts stopped. Peter, renounced? Edmund had not been a part of the conversation between Aslan and his older siblings. He had only heard them say that they could no longer return to Narnia. Apparently something else had transpired between them._

_Peter finally turned to face his brother, and Edmund noticed the hurt and regret in his older brother's eyes. He spoke softly._

"_After He told us that we couldn't come back He bade Susan to leave. When she did He turned to me and said that I was no longer worthy to be high king. He said that I had fallen from grace for my arrogance and inability to let go of the past, and then he told me…" here he paused, and then continued "He told me what would have happened had you not shattered the ice and interrupted the ritual. He said I had nearly doomed Narnia by my actions"_

_Tears appeared in the eldest Pevensie's eyes, and he turned away. Edmund didn't know what to say. He could only turn away and wonder what he was going to tell Lucy and Susan._

And so he had remained to this day. He had not been idle, true, for it was the summer term, but at the back of his mind always was the same matter. The memory, the terrible memory of Aslan telling him what he had nearly done, how petty he had been, and how through his actions he had renounced his position as high king of Narnia. The Lion had not taken any pleasure in it, he could tell. Aslan's eyes had been sorrowful as he chastised His servant. For that was what Peter should have realized he was. But no, pride had devoured duty.

Peter stared at the seat in front of him. For most of the term he had tried to focus on his studies, but now that he had nothing else to occupy him the matter had overtaken him again. His eyes glazed as they bored a hole in the space in front of him, and he could only think of how he had lost his throne, nearly doomed Narnia to the White Witch's tyranny, and been forbidden to enter his former realm by its true master.

Peter was finally jolted from his awful reverie by an insistent feeling in his bladder. He slowly stood up and made his way carefully past the slumbering man beside him. Having made it to the aisle he turned and made his way to the back of the car. Finding the entrance to the lavatory, he opened the door but lost his footing as the train made a sudden jerk to the side. For a moment the train continued its motion, tipping over in the process, and then it struck the ground hard. Peter could only watch as the impact bent the walls of the train inward towards him. A metal edge hurtled towards him, and Peter felt the impact of another edge behind him push him forward. He and the edge hurtled toward each other and then…blackness.

…

Edmund sat down on his bed, feeling numb. He knew that downstairs his parents were both grieving for their lost son, both holding each other as tears streamed down their faces. Susan was in her room, as was Lucy. He didn't know how Susan had taken the news, for he had left before she did. Lucy however was crying, sobbing as if her heart would burst.

As for Edmund, he was in his own room, still trying to take in the news.

The three Pevensie siblings had all arrived safely at their station. It had been a happy gathering, marred only by Susan's seeming distance from Narnia. But then, Edmund couldn't blame her. After, she had been barred from returning.

Peter's absence had been the first clue that something was amiss. They had waited, but Peter never arrived. Growing worried they had gone to the platform that his train was arriving in. At least, it was the one it was supposed to arrive in. But it never did. When their parents had arrived they had joined in their worry, questioning the staff at the station. They did not know what was happening. It was with a heavy heart that the Pevensie family had left the train station, waiting for news of Peter's train.

Three days later they got it. The train had derailed on its way to London. Many had been injured. Some had died. According to the report the car Peter was in was too mangled to take apart and search. Hence, his body wasn't found. Lucy had tried to believe that Peter was still alive, but the report made it clear that he was on the train and in his position could not have survived the crash.

This led the Pevensie family to where they were now. Edmund grieved, not only for his brother's death, but for the fact that he had spent the last months of his life in misery. Their last face to face conversation had been that awful one on the station when Peter had confessed the loss of his crown. Since then they had corresponded by letter, but Edmund could tell his brother's heart was not in it. And now he was dead.

Edmund briefly wondered why Aslan hadn't forgiven Peter as He had forgiven him. He could only assume that the Lion had His own reasons.

Edmund became aware of the sobbing coming from the room next to his. Still feeling numb he got up and left his own room. He walked a short distance down the hallway that joined his and Lucy's rooms. Finding the door still open, he walked in to see his youngest sister kneeling down, her head and shoulders on her bed, crying. Edmund walked over to her and sat down beside her. This was particularly hard for her, Peter's favorite sister. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and Lucy looked up.

"He's dead. Why's he dead?" she asked in a quivering voice.

All Edmund could do was look at her and reply "I don't know"

Lucy buried her face in her arms again and wept. Edmund could feel tears of his own making their way down his face. Together the two sat there, mourning the loss of their eldest brother.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Peter opened his eyes. His first impression was one of darkness with a gentle, green light coming from above. He became aware of his own motion, and swiftly realized that he was moving upwards. Looking up, he saw what looked like patches of green light gently shifting about, as if he were underwater looking through the surface. As he moved the lights became closer and closer, until he breached the surface of the water. Grasping the nearest available hand hold he pulled himself out of the water and onto dry land. As he lay there, it occurred to him that he didn't feel the least bit wet or cold. He wasn't gasping for air either, as would be expected from one who had been submerged in water. As he pulled himself to his feet he started to look around.

He was in a wood. Trees grew thickly around him, their canopies so dense that Peter couldn't see any bit of the sky. Nevertheless, the forest was illuminated by a warm, green light that filtered through the leaves above him. As he looked around he noted that there were dozens of pools of water, all very similar to the one he had emerged from, surrounded by trees and the thick grass that grew all around him. The pools themselves appeared to be ten feet wide and shallow; shallow enough to make him wonder how he had been submerged at all.

There was also something else distinctive about this place. It was quiet. No birds chirped, no insects buzzed, no wildlife could be heard at all. The forest was silent. But it did not seem dead. One could almost see the trees growing and hear as their roots received nourishment from the soil. Yes, this place was very much alive.

Later Peter would say that the forest put a sort of haze over his mind, for as soon as he had emerged from the pool of water he almost forgot how he had gotten here. Indeed, as the seconds ticked by serenity overtook his mind. He was not alarmed, excited, or curious. Just content. He felt as ageless and unchanging as the wood he found himself in.

No one knows how long he would have stood there, content merely to exist, in that wood. Certainly Peter did not know. But he did not stand there forever. Later Peter could not say how much time had passed before he heard a deep, rumbling voice behind him call his name.

"Peter Pevensie" it said. Still content, the young man turned around to see who had called him. Standing a short ways away was a lion. But one could tell, even in that serene wood, that this was no ordinary lion. He was bigger and so much more majestic than any lion one had ever seen. The very air about him seemed to quiver with his majesty and power. There was also a feeling of great wildness about him, and yet Peter felt that he had never been safer in his life.

For a moment Peter stared at the Lion. Something stirred in the back of his mind, a memory. For a moment he felt as though he should know this Lion, like they had met before, but he also felt a vague sense of shame about himself. And then he remembered.

"Aslan" he whispered. He started forward, then stopped, remembering their last encounter. Tears slipped down his cheeks, and instead of rushing forward to embrace the Lion he knelt, facing the ground. All the misery and regret that he had been feeling for the last three months welled up inside him again, fully shaking off the effects of the wood. For a moment there was also self-pity, mourning for his lost throne, status and realm. But in the presence of the High King of high kings those feelings felt so very petty and unworthy, and Peter felt more miserable than ever.

For a moment there was silence as Aslan looked at his wayward servant. Peter started to brace himself, hoping to be ready for the inevitable condemnation and judgment. But Aslan said nothing, and the silence went on. A question occurred to Peter, and he gathered his courage to speak.

"Am I dead?" he asked, looking up and dreading the answer.

Aslan shook his magnificent head. "No Peter, former high king, you still walk among the living"

Confusion added itself to the mix of emotions in his head. "But there was a train crash" he protested. "I was crushed. And you…you said that I could no longer visit Narnia"

"Son of Adam, did you think that there were only two worlds?" Aslan answered.

This new revelation left Peter speechless. He supposed that there was nothing to forbid more worlds from existing, but nothing had ever indicated that there were more.

"So, what am I doing here?" Peter dared to ask.

For a moment Aslan merely gazed at him, and Peter again sank into the pits of his despair. Then the Lion spoke.

"Peter, formerly Sir Peter Wolfsbane and high king of Narnia, you have fallen from your grace. Through your arrogance and pride you nearly killed the rightful successor to the throne of Narnia. You would have summoned Jadis the White Witch, the worst tyrant Narnia had ever known, back to her life and power. In so doing, you would have condemned Narnia to another hundred years of winter and misery"

Peter winced with every accusation as if it were a blow. He looked at Aslan's face and started to protest. "But what of Caspian? Was he not tempted? Could you have not destroyed the witch again yourself?"

Aslan's face hardened slightly. "Child, I am telling your story, not Caspain's. I tell no story to anyone except his own. As for the Witch, yes, I could have easily sent her back to death. But by summoning her you had turned from me, and renounced me and my help, both past and present"

All of this sent Peter even deeper into his own despair and misery. The Lion was right. Lucy had been right. In his arrogance he had forgotten that it was Aslan who had defeated the Witch in the first place and crowned him and his siblings. No, he had dismissed it, which was worse.

Another period of silence followed, in which neither Peter nor the Lion spoke. More tears made their way down Peter's cheeks. So this was it. As he had renounced Aslan, so had Aslan renounced him. In his misery Peter never questioned why he was still alive and why Aslan had called him here. Finally, the former high king looked up and saw that Aslan's face had softened. Peter even dared to think that he saw tears in the Lion's eyes.

"Peter Pevensie, I have watched you" He said.

"What?" Peter asked, almost weeping.

"Though you left the land of Narnia and though you had renounced me you have never left my sight Peter Pevensie. I know. I know that you have suffered. I know that always you have dwelt on your mistakes and wished you had never committed them. I know how you pushed your family away in your grief and in doing so only compounded your suffering. I know that you regret what you have done. I ask you now, why do you feel so about your actions?"

Peter tried to compose himself, failed, and turned his thoughts to the Lion's question. He ruminated for a minute, feeling a little tempted to hide some of the truth, and immediately discarded the thought.

"I would never see Narnia again. I lost my throne, my titles, and my position. I disappointed you. I would have doomed Narnia if not for Edmund" he said. He looked into the Lion's face and thought he saw a spark of something else in His face. Could it be…happiness?

"Peter Pevensie, you have spoken truthfully. Though your actions are not without shame you have regretted them as rightly as you can. For that, I extend to you a chance"

"A chance at what?"

"Redemption" the Lion answered simply.

It took a second for Peter to recognize what the Lion had said. When he did, hope flared in his heart.

"Peter, do you wish to absolve yourself of your shame?"

"Yes" Peter said, hardly daring to believe his ears.

"Then follow me" Aslan said, and he turned and started walking away from the eldest Pevensie. Peter hastened to follow.

They walked in silence, moving through the trees a short distance from the pool that Peter had emerged from. Peter realized that the forest looked much the same no matter where one traveled. He started to worry about his chances of finding the pool he had originated, but then decided that Aslan could doubtless remember which pool it was.

They had only gone a short distance before Aslan stopped in front of one of the pools and waited for Peter to join Him. Peter did so, a bit hesitantly, but hopefully as well.

"As the Witch was never summoned, you cannot make reparations for your follies in Narnia, for it is now a happy realm without trouble. Therefore, I send you to another world, one that is troubled as it has never been before. Its name has been lost by its inhabitants, but the land itself is called the Old World.

"Several races vie for dominance, all with their tyrants as well as some with their heroes. Unity and alliance is all but forgotten. If left to its course war, chaos, and tyranny will consume the entire world. It has already begun to tighten its clutch. I would see it take a different course" Aslan stopped speaking and looked straight into Peter's eyes. "Do you understand what your task is?"

Peter looked at the pool feeling no small amount of trepidation. It looked like any of the other pools: wider than he was tall and only a few inches deep. But beyond it was a world torn by war and gripped by misery. And he was supposed to solve its problems.

"How can I do this? What should I do? What do you even want me to do?" Peter asked, hoping desperately for counsel.

"Unite the forces of Order under one banner and smite the forces of Disorder. Only through unity can they hope to stand against and defeat the evil beings that seek only their destruction and misery"

"And how do I unite them?"

Aslan looked at Peter for a second, then said "That is up to you, Son of Adam"

Peter looked from Aslan to the pool and then back at Aslan again. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that his former position in Narnia really hadn't come by his own strength alone, but by the weight of prophecy and the will of Aslan. If it hadn't been for those there would have been no way that he would have become high king. And now he was expected to forge a new kingdom by only his own efforts. It seemed impossible.

As if reading his thoughts Aslan said "Courage, Peter Pevensie, for I would have not given you this task if you were unable to complete it"

That utterance made its way into Peter's mind, as did his earlier desperation for absolution and forgiveness. He looked at the pool and then, before his doubts returned, he turned to the Lion and said "I'll do it"

If the Lion could smile Aslan certainly did so. That however was quickly replaced by a somber expression. "Very good. Before you go however, I give you these warnings and this advice.

"Though a mighty warrior you were in Narnia, you will not be hard pressed to find those who can outmatch you in prowess in the Old World, for many of your enemies possess might and speed beyond the lot of mortals. Learn where you can, and keep your sword sharp and your body ready.

"Though magic is not inherently evil, many of its users are. Beware, for the destruction they can wreak is great. Despair not however, for though you possess no magic of your own you will still find ways to bring such foes down.

"You will be tried as you have never been before. Battle shall take its toll. The character of both friend and foe will test you. Temptation will come. But no matter what happens, remember your purpose. Remember that you work for redemption. And above all, remember me. Remember me and I shall never forget you"

Peter took all of this in. Though much of it was ominous he was heartened to hear that Aslan would be watching over him.

"Peter, former high king of Narnia, are you ready?" Aslan asked.

Peter squared his shoulders. "Yes" he replied.

**If anyone is interested in reading further, part two will soon be posted in the crossovers section, under Chronicles of Narnia and Warhammer. If you are unfamiliar with the second universe, don't worry.**


End file.
